Cameroon Company Search Guide 2026: How to Verify a Cameroon Business

TL;DR. Cameroon’s official commercial registry is the RCCM (Registre du Commerce et du Credit Mobilier), accessible via the pan-African OHADA portal at rccm.ohada.org. GUCE (Guichet Unique des Operations du Commerce Exterieur) coordinates company registration through a one-stop-shop process. Cameroon is bilingual (French and English), but the registry interface is primarily in French. Cameroon is on the FATF increased monitoring (grey) list as of May 2026.

What is the official Cameroon business registry?

Cameroon’s commercial registry is the Registre du Commerce et du Credit Mobilier (RCCM), established under OHADA’s Uniform Act Relating to General Commercial Law. OHADA harmonizes business law across 16 West and Central African states; Cameroon ratified the OHADA treaty in 1994 and is among the larger economies in the zone.

Operationally, RCCM filings are managed by the greffe (registry clerk) of the Tribunaux de Premiere Instance (courts of first instance) in each regional capital: Yaounde, Douala, Bafoussam, Garoua, Bertoua, Bamenda, Buea, Maroua, Ngaoundere, and Ebolowa. GUCE (Guichet Unique des Operations du Commerce Exterieur), accessible at guce.cm, serves as the digital one-stop-shop for trade and company-related formalities, including RCCM registration and post-registration filings.

Online search access is provided via the OHADA federated RCCM portal at rccm.ohada.org, which covers all 16 OHADA jurisdictions. This portal indexes Cameroon entity data fed by the national registry system, though digitization coverage across all regional courts varies.

The RCCM covers commercial companies (SA, SARL, SNC, SCS), individual traders, economic interest groups (GIE), branches of foreign companies, and moveable security registrations. All commercial entities in Cameroon must register within 30 days of incorporation. RCCM records generally extend to the mid-1990s when OHADA-compliant registration was introduced.

What can you search?

The OHADA RCCM portal supports searches by:

• Corporate name (denomination sociale)
• Trade name (nom commercial)
• Abbreviation
• RCCM number
• Legal form

Results show: corporate name, trade name, RCCM number, legal form, registration court, entry date, and filed formalities (amendments, liquidations, strike-offs). The credit mobilier section records moveable security charges and pledges.

A key access note for Cameroon: the 2023 Cameroonian compliance guidelines indicate that only information on public companies is broadly available online; detailed records for private companies may require a physical search at the relevant court registry or formal request. This is a practical constraint for foreign compliance buyers needing private company data.

Data freshness is court-driven: Douala and Yaounde courts typically update within days of a filing; regional courts in more remote areas may lag.

How much does it cost?

Third-party extract prices sourced from Schmidt and Schmidt’s published tariff (verified May 2026). EUR/XAF conversion: 1 EUR = 655.96 XAF (fixed peg). USD/EUR: approximately 0.92. Official RCCM search fees at the court registry level are set by individual court administrations; foreign buyers engaging a local legal representative should expect additional professional fees.

Do you need a local account or ID?

An account on the OHADA RCCM portal requires an email address and basic contact details. No Cameroonian national ID is required for foreign users conducting searches. For court-level document retrieval, engagement with a local legal representative or a licensed court agent (huissier) is typically required, particularly for private company records not available on the digital portal.

GUCE access for trade-related formalities may require additional credentials, but compliance searches for existing entities do not require GUCE registration.

Is the website in English?

Partial. Cameroon is constitutionally bilingual (French and English), and GUCE’s portal acknowledges both languages. However, the OHADA RCCM portal operates primarily in French, with English navigation available via the lang=en parameter. All entity data, filing descriptions, and legal form labels are in French. English-language Cameroon (the North West and South West regions) conducts commerce and legal proceedings in English, but RCCM filings at the national level default to French formatting.

Compliance buyers from English-language jurisdictions should apply French OHADA terminology: SARL (private limited), SA (public company), SNC (general partnership), GIE (economic interest group). Certified English translations are available through intermediaries.

What’s the turnaround time?

Basic OHADA portal search results are instant. Certified extracts ordered through intermediaries or at the relevant Cameroon court registry take 7 to 14 business days for standard processing. Expedited processing is available through local legal representatives in Douala or Yaounde. A physical search of private company files at the registry may add additional time. Third-party intermediaries serving foreign buyers quote 7 to 14 business days for electronic PDF delivery.

Is there an API?

No. The OHADA RCCM portal does not offer a public API as of May 2026. GUCE’s digital platform covers trade formalities but does not provide entity data exports for external compliance systems. Compliance platforms requiring automated Cameroon entity lookups must rely on manual portal access or a local data partner.

For the broader context on OHADA’s harmonization framework and how it shapes registry access across Central and West Africa, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.

What you legally cannot do

OHADA registries prohibit bulk automated scraping of entity data. Commercial redistribution of RCCM records without court or OHADA authorization is restricted. Cameroon’s data protection framework (Law no. 2010/012 on cybersecurity and cybercriminality, supplemented by the 2010 Electronic Communications Law) governs use of personal data in registry filings. Director names and addresses found in RCCM records may not be used for unsolicited marketing. Compliance buyers should document access purpose and retain records consistent with their AML/KYC audit obligations.

Practical tips for foreign compliance buyers

• Private company data gap. Only public company (SA) records are broadly accessible online. For SARL (private company) data, expect to engage a local Cameroonian legal representative who can conduct an in-person search at the relevant court registry.
• Court of registration matters. RCCM numbers encode the court of registration. Douala (economic capital) and Yaounde (political capital) handle the majority of registrations. Cross-border entities may be registered in any of Cameroon’s regional courts; confirm court location before requesting documents.
• OHADA legal form standards. Entity types follow OHADA-standardized definitions across all 16 member states. SA requires a minimum capital of XAF 10 million; SARL requires XAF 1 million. Share capital amounts in RCCM filings are in XAF.
• FATF grey list. Cameroon is on FATF’s increased monitoring list as of May 2026. This triggers enhanced due diligence requirements for transactions involving Cameroonian counterparties under most institutional AML frameworks. Monitor FATF updates for changes to this status.
• Bilingual compliance. In North West and South West regions (anglophone Cameroon), legal documentation may exist in English. For entities operating in these regions, verify whether English-language filings are properly captured in the central RCCM.
• CEMAC membership. Cameroon is a member of CEMAC (Communaute Economique et Monetaire de l’Afrique Centrale) and shares the XAF currency zone with five other Central African states. AML/CFT coordination in the zone is handled by GABAC (Groupe d’Action contre le Blanchiment d’Argent en Afrique Centrale), the FATF-style regional body.

Alternatives if you cannot access the RCCM directly

• Aggregator search (free, indicative only): OpenCorporates has limited Cameroon RCCM coverage. Useful for name-check only; not for compliance-grade verification.
• OHADA RCCM portal (rccm.ohada.org) covers Cameroon as one of 16 member states. Free at the search level for public company data; certified extracts require engagement with the court or intermediary.
• Schmidt and Schmidt (schmidt-export.com). Third-party intermediary for certified RCCM extracts covering Cameroon, with English translation options.

Local data suppliers

• Creditinfo Cameroon. Part of the pan-African Creditinfo credit bureau network. Provides commercial credit reports covering payment behavior and risk scoring. Use when you need financial risk indicators on top of the RCCM filing record.

Use the RCCM for the official filing record. Use a credit bureau when you need payment behavior or risk scoring on top of the registry extract.

FAQ

Can a foreign company access the Cameroon registry directly?

Foreign users can access the OHADA RCCM portal (rccm.ohada.org) directly for public company searches. For private company records or court-certified documents, engagement with a Cameroonian legal representative or court agent is required. There is no general prohibition on foreign access to public registry data.

What is the RCCM number in Cameroon?

The RCCM number encodes the court of registration, year, and a sequential entity number. Douala-registered entities carry “CM-DLA” as the court prefix; Yaounde entities carry “CM-YAO”. This identifier is the primary anchor for entity searches and should be cross-referenced against any counterparty documentation.

What entity types are registered with the RCCM in Cameroon?

The RCCM covers SA (Societe Anonyme), SARL (Societe a Responsabilite Limitee), SNC (Societe en Nom Collectif), SCS (Societe en Commandite Simple), GIE (Groupement d’Interet Economique), individual traders, and branches of foreign companies. All are governed by OHADA’s Uniform Act on Commercial Companies. Cameroon also allows cooperative societies, which are registered under a separate legal framework.

Does Cameroon have a beneficial ownership (UBO) registry?

Cameroon does not operate a publicly searchable UBO register as of May 2026. Beneficial ownership disclosure requirements exist under Cameroonian AML regulations aligned with FATF Recommendation 24, but UBO data is held by regulatory authorities rather than published for public access. Given Cameroon’s current FATF grey list status, compliance buyers should apply enhanced UBO verification procedures: rely on RCCM director/shareholder filings, direct counterparty declaration, and supplementary EDD documentation.

How current is the data in the RCCM?

Cameroon RCCM data currency varies by court. Douala and Yaounde process high volumes and generally update within days. Regional courts may lag by days to weeks depending on staffing and digitization progress. The OHADA portal reflects data as submitted to each respective court registry; there is no automated real-time sync.

Is Cameroon on the FATF grey list?

Yes. Cameroon is on FATF’s increased monitoring (grey) list as of May 2026. This reflects strategic deficiencies in Cameroon’s AML/CFT framework. Most institutional compliance programs require enhanced due diligence for transactions with Cameroonian counterparties as a result. Monitor FATF for updates, as grey list status is reviewed at each bi-annual plenary.

What’s the difference between the registry and tax/financial filings?

The RCCM covers commercial registration, company structure, and moveable security registrations. Tax filings and identifiers are held by the Direction Generale des Impots (DGI) under the Numero d’Identification Unique (NIU), Cameroon’s tax identifier. These systems are separate but cross-referenced in entity documentation. A thorough CDD file should verify both RCCM status and DGI compliance where available.

Last verified: May 2026. Sources: OHADA RCCM portal (rccm.ohada.org), GUCE Cameroon (guce.cm), FATF (fatf-gafi.org). For the full global due diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.